Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/181



THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. 175

therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus Christ the light of the world; and that "the soul of the priest should shine Uke a light illuminating the whole world." ^ The light of learning, and this in no small degree, is needed in the priest, because it is his duty to fill others with wisdom, to overcome error, and to be a guide to the many in the steep and slippery paths of life. Learning, however, must above all be accompanied by innocence of life, because in the reformation of man ex- ample avails far more than precept. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works? The meaning of this divine precept is, that the perfection of virtue in priests should be such that they should be hke a mirror to the rest of men. "Nothing leads others more surely to the love and worship of God than the life and example of those dedicated to the divine ministry; for, since they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere, others look on them as on a mirror, to seek from them an example which they may follow." ' Therefore, if all men must watchfully take heed against the allurements of sin, and against a too eager seeking after fleeting pleasures, it is clear that priests ought to do the same much more faithfully and steadfastly. But it is not enough for them merely to restrain their passions: their sacred dignity requires of them in addition the habit of stringent self-denial, and that they should devote all the powers of their soul, particularly the intellect and will, which hold the highest powers in man, to the service of Christ. "If thou hast a mind to leave all," says St. Bernard, "remember to reckon thyself among the things that thou wishest to abandon â€” nay, deny thyself first and before everything." * Not until their soul is un- shackled and free from every unhallowed desire will

1 St. John Chrysost. De Sac. L 3, c. 1.

2 Matt. V. 16.

^ Con. Trid. Sess. xxii. 1, de Ref.
 * Declam., c. 1.